The Whitsundays is one of the dreamiest travel destinations in Australia. In July, we spent five nights on Hayman Island in the Whitsundays, at Intercontinental Hayman Island Great Barrier Reef. It’s one of the biggest splurges we’ve made on a holiday, but it is one we will cherish for the rest of our days!

There are a few accommodation options in the Whitsundays, and Hayman Island is one of the more expensive options, so I’ve written this detailed review of my experience at Hayman Island Resort, to help you decide whether it’s a good fit for you.

It has been a long time since either of us had been to the Whitsundays, and for me it was a totally different experience to my first trip, more than a decade ago, when I stayed in a hostel in Airlie Beach with my bestie. Both trips were so much fun, but completely different stages of life and styles of travel.

Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, we had to cancel our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef, which was obviously very disappointing given that this is one of the main draw cards of the region, and one of the reasons we chose the Whitsundays. Luckily, I was still able to make it onto the day tour of Whitehaven Beach, which I was really looking forward to. There are so many things to do on Hayman Island at the resort, and in the Whitsundays islands, but luckily Hayman Island Resort is also a wonderful place to just be.

The Best Time to Visit the Whitsundays

The best time to visit the Whitsundays is the dry season, which spans from May to October. This makes it one of the best winter getaways in Australia, and for us, was the perfect break from a cold, dark winter in Melbourne. 

We visited in July, and had perfect conditions. The daytime temperatures were in the mid-twenties, and often low twenties at night. This translated into shorts & a shirt during the day, swimming, and bringing a jumper to throw over my shoulders on the walk back from the restaurant to the room each night.

The Rooms & Suites

Hayman Island Resort is quite a landmark hotel in Australia, and I think many Australians would instantly recognise the white resort & its iconic hotel pool.

Many of the rooms overlook this pool (pool view rooms), but there’s another wing which has “ocean view rooms”, which overlooks a manmade lagoon, another pool area, and then towards the ocean.

We opted for an ocean view room, since I wanted to wake up every morning and see the ocean, or enjoy a meal on our balcony with an ocean view. On David’s birthday, we woke up to see humpback whales breaching in the distance!

Room Upgrade: Ocean View Suite

We are loyalty members with IHG, which owns Intercontinental as well as tonnes of other leading hotel brands. The loyalty program really paid off on this trip, because our ocean view room was upgraded to an ocean view suite – such a treat!

We’ve been using the IHG loyalty program ever since our honeymoon at Six Senses Fiji, and try to stay in IHG hotels whenever convenient. Since they have some of our favourite hotels in Brisbane, we get quite a few points just from visiting our family multiple times a year, so it’s been fairly easy for us to accumulate points. We’ve had quite a few room upgrades & other little perks, but this one was definitely the best to date!

Due to the abundant bird life on Hayman Island, you need to keep your balcony door closed, lest you find your room ransacked by a cockatoo raiding the mini bar for macadamias. Keeping the door closed wasn’t a problem, and we enjoyed having them visit our balcony – we just had to keep an eye on our food when we ordered room service one time.

The Pool at Hayman Island Resort

The pool at Hayman Island Resort is the most iconic pool in Australia, and has to be one of the best luxury pools in the world.

There are actually two pool areas at Hayman Island, the main pool, which is the famous one, and an ocean view infinity pool.

Main Pool

In the Pool Wing, rooms overlook the iconic Hayman Island pool, which is a hexagonal pool surrounded by another ring of connected pools. It really has to be seen to be believed!

We spent most of our poolside time here, even though the water was colder than the infinity pool. We would do a quick lap around the pool, before getting a bit too cold. There weren’t many people in the pool, and because it’s so big, it never felt crowded on the sunloungers.

Aqua Bar is in the middle of this pool area, which was perfect for poolside cocktails, snacks and lunch. Heaven!

Ocean View Infinity Pool

The second set of pools at Hayman Island resort are also stunning. These pools are heated, and there is an infinity pool that directly overlooks the beach and ocean. There are  shallow sections with a sandy bottom, perfect for swimming with small children or some lazy pool lounging.

The temperature was PERFECT, even in the middle of winter! 

An Asian restaurant, Bam Bam, is in the centre of these pools, which means you can enjoy a pool & ocean view over lunch. Bam Bam also has a daily Happy Hour from 3-5pm, which we took advantage of and coincided nicely with sunset.

When we dined at Bam Bam one night, the surroundings looked magical, as the surrounding pools are illuminated at night.

Day Trips & Excursions

There are loads of day trips and excursions that you can do from Hayman Island, almost all of which involve time on or in the water. We booked two for our stay, and were going to book a third tour once we arrived, but due to being unwell, we only ended up on one excursion.

Planning Tip

My advice is to book your tours in advance, and check which days the tours you want to go on, operate. Most tours are only offered on a few days a week, so if you visit for less than four days there’s a chance you’ll miss the day your intended tour is available. We were emailing the reception team as soon as we’d booked, and had already checked there was availability on the tours we wanted to book before we booked the room.

Whitehaven Beach Day Trip

Whitehaven Beach is the most beautiful beach in Australia, and the crown jewel of the Whitsundays. We booked a day trip to Whitehaven Beach as an excursion with the resort, and it was the perfect half-day.

There are two options for where you can visit on Whitehaven, and most tour operators visit one or the other. This trip took us to the northern part of the beach, known as Betty’s Beach, which also includes access to the lookout at Hill Inlet. This is where you’ll get the iconic, postcard views of Whitehaven Beach and the classic view of the marbling white sand through the clear turquoise water.

It was a very straightforward trip, on a small boat with approximately 12 passengers. We had plenty of time to take in the views from Hill Inlet and swim at the beach, which has perfectly calm and shallow water. Through the crystal clear water, we could spot a few sandy-coloured stingrays, and even a few tiny reef sharks!

On the way back, we enjoyed a drink and some fresh fruit, and saw a few dolphins as we sailed back to Hayman Island. We booked our tour directly with Hayman Island Resort, but if you’re staying on another island you can book your own Whitehaven Beach tour.

Great Barrier Reef: Inner Reef & Outer Reef

There are a few options for visiting the Great Barrier Reef from Hayman Island, with trips to the Inner Reef & Outer Reef available. We had booked a trip to the Outer Reef, hoping for some amazing snorkelling, but unfortunately we had to cancel as I was unwell.

Restaurants & Dining at Hayman Island

There are five dining options at Hayman Island Resort, with four restaurants, plus room service. We dined at all the restaurants, and didn’t have a single disappointing meal. There is so much variety across the menus, that

My husband eats gluten free (but is not coeliac), and there were so many excellent options for him. He had no trouble sticking to a gluten free diet, which was really nice.

You need to make a dinner reservation for each night of your stay, if you want to eat in a restaurant. The restaurant bookings are carefully paced, so even though the restaurant might not look full, it might not be possible to walk-in and you will need to order room service.

We incorrectly assumed that Amici might be a restaurant that was used for overflow or wouldn’t need a reservation, because it’s the only restaurant without an ocean view. We were incorrect! We were lucky that we were able to get a table, but we nearly had to find somewhere else to eat.

Pacific

The resort’s main restaurant is Pacific, which overlooks the beach and the ocean. Included buffet breakfast is served here every morning, with a variety of indoor and outdoor seating. 

Buffet Breakfast

The buffet is incredible, with a huge variety of fresh fruit, cereals, breads & pastries (including a dedicated gluten free bread & pastry section), cheeses, savoury cold breakfasts, yogurts, bircher and chia puddings, and a hot section which offered a range of Asian hot breakfasts, western hot breakfasts, as well as some special dishes which changed daily.

For dinner, the menu at Pacific leans traditional, with classic dishes like steaks, fish of the day, a chicken dish, etc.

We dined at Pacific twice, and I couldn’t help but get the fish of the day both times, despite being tempted by several other dishes. It was just so good! On the first night I had spanish mackerel, and on the last night I had snapper, so it was worth the repeat order.

On our last night, it was David’s birthday, and a group of the staff sang him Happy Birthday as they delivered dessert – very cute.

Bam Bam

Bam Bam is the resort’s Asian restaurant, with open sides, ocean views, and surrounded by the infinity pool. I loved the setting, and the extremely fresh flavours on the menu. If we’d had a longer stay, I would definitely have returned for dinner here again, we both saw so many dishes we wanted to order on the menu. 

This is a great spot for dinner & cocktails, and there’s also a daily Happy Hour.

Amici

Amici is the resort’s Italian restaurant, offering a range of pizza & pastas. It’s set back from the water, so there is no view, which in my naivety, thought would mean that it would be a less popular restaurant. Not so! Amici is very popular, and you’ll still need a reservation here.

The food is lovely, and I can imagine it is probably the most family-friendly restaurant menu, given that it has a broad range of pizzas and pastas.

Aqua Bar

Aqua Bar is a great spot for a casual lunch or poolside dining. Located in the Main Pool, you can order food & drinks direct to your sun lounger. Heaven! 

I was surprised by the quality of the food here, it was so fresh and delicious. We tried the lobster roll and a guac & chips, alongside some perfect poolside cocktails. Nothing says “out of office” more than a cocktail delivered in a coconut.

In-Room Dining

Getting room service is one of my guilty pleasures in a luxury hotel. We had such a big balcony and lovely ocean view, I wanted to make the most of it with a meal on the balcony. We ordered a club sandwich, which was huge, and very good, and had a great meal. The menu is extensive, and it’s not more expensive than dining in an on-site restaurant. Sometimes room service feels like extortion, but not here.

On-Island Activities & Facilities

Spa

The day we arrived, I made a beeline for the resort Spa for a massage, which I think is the perfect way to get into holiday mode. It was lovely, and a great start to the trip. You’ll need to book your spa appointments in advance of your stay, because it books up very quickly.

Gym

Hayman Island Resort has a beautiful, well-equipped gym. I didn’t darken its door on this trip, but David used it every day, as he was training for a marathon. He gave it high praise.

Wine Tasting

During our stay, Henschke wines from South Australia hosted a couple of wine dinners, as well as a complimentary wine tasting by the pool. We went to the wine tasting, which was a lot of fun, and a great way to meet other guests.

We visited Henschke’s cellar door in the Barossa Valley a few years ago, so it was lovely to be able to enjoy their wines again!

We didn’t go to the wine dinner, because it sounded like a very fun evening, and it would be hard to say no to free-flowing Henschke wines. We had an early start the following morning to visit Whitehaven Beach, and decided a delicate stomach and a boat trip wouldn’t mix.

How to Get to Hayman Island

The best way to get to Hayman Island is to fly to Hamilton Island, and then take the Hayman Island Resort’s ferry to the island. The boat trip takes 40 minutes, and the boat is very luxurious – and comes at an additional charge per person, per trip.

Alternatively, you can also book a helicopter to take you from Hamilton to Hayman, but this is more expensive.

On our way over, we were offered a non alcoholic spritz on arrival, as well as our choice of alcoholic beverage, a bag of nuts, and a bag of jellybeans. With a drink in hand, some snacks, and some humpback whale sightings on the way over,  it was an excellent start to the trip.

We were very lucky with completely smooth sailing on our trip to the island. On our return journey, high winds made the ride very bumpy for about 25 minutes of the journey. I felt completely safe, but it was definitely a bumpy ride and the Captain said it was only “average” in terms of roughness. If you struggle with seasickness, worth coming prepared! 

Gifts

As part of our stay, we each received a straw beach tote, which was perfect for carting things to & from the pool, and is sturdy enough that we’ll be able to keep them and re-use them. They also included two stainless steel water bottles, to encourage guests to stay hydrated and use the re-usable bottle, which can be re-filled in room or at water fountains around the grounds.

On David’s birthday, we found a gift in the room from the Haymand Island Team, of two board games. One was a travel-sized, Whitsundays edition of Monopoly, and the other was a Whitsundays themed Top of the Trumps (card game). I love Monopoly and the Whitsundays theming of all of the properties and services in the board was so cute!

While I have no idea how rigorous they are with dropping off birthday presents, none of the above had anything to do with this blog (I didn’t mention the blog when we booked, and didn’t ask for any special preferences or anything like that as a result).

Verdict: Was Intercontinental Hayman Island worth it?

In short, I’d like to move in!

There’s no two ways about it, the Intercontinental Hayman Island Resort is expensive. This is a luxury resort, and not the place to come if you’re on a tight budget.

Was it worth the price? I think it absolutely was, and we would both love to return again. The resort is gorgeous, the food & beverage options are excellent and the service is warm and efficient. We genuinely could not fault our stay, and felt that it was a fair exchange for the high price tag. 

It’s certainly a splurge holiday, but if that’s what you’re looking for, then it doesn’t get much better than this.

Sometimes, in remote destinations, you can feel like you’re getting ripped off by “island prices” when the quality is sub-par. This was never the case here.

This would be an excellent honeymoon destination. We stayed at Six Senses Fiji on our honeymoon, which was incredible, but if you wanted to stay within Australia I would highly recommend Hayman Island Resort.

Further Reading

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